US-NEWS Summary

Sep 4, 2011, 11:56 p.m.

Chinese firms offered weapons to Gaddafi's forces: reports

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese arms firms offered to sell weapons worth about $200 million to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's beleaguered forces in July, two newspapers reported, compounding pressure on Beijing's brittle ties with the rebels who have ousted him. Following an earlier report in the Globe and Mail, the New York Times reported on Monday that documents found abandoned in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, indicated that Chinese companies offered to sell rocket launchers, anti-tank missiles and other arms to Gaddafi's forces, despite bans on such sales.

Iceland says it was "bullied" over bank debt

REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Iceland's president accused European countries on Sunday of having bullied it into agreeing to guarantee repayment of the debts of a failed bank, reviving a dispute with Britain and the Netherlands whose citizens are owed billions. When Iceland's banking sector collapsed in the 2008 global financial crisis, accounts were frozen at the bank Landsbanki, which had accepted deposits from British and Dutch savers through online funds called Icesave.

Iran plugs first nuclear power plant into grid

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's first nuclear power plant has finally begun to provide electricity to the national grid, official media reported on Sunday, a long-delayed milestone in the nuclear ambitions of a country the West fears is covertly try to develop atomic bombs. "The Atomic Energy Agency announced that atomic electricity from Bushehr power plant joined the national grid with a power of around 60 megawatts on Saturday at 2329 (1859 GMT)," the official news agency IRNA reported.